

Ishani Roy - Serein Inc. - 2023 Fellow - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award

Episode #16: Busting DE&I Myths And Unconscious Bias at Work | AB-InBev GCC Podcast

Episode 4: The Experience of Inclusion
Recent apperances

Ishani facilitated a workshop for the members of Meaningful Business on retaining talent through inclusive leadership. In this highly interactive, gamified workshop, participants explored how inclusive leadership builds trust, strengthens teams, and drives business success. Ishani dives into behavioral neuroscience to uncover unconscious biases, challenge myths, and provide real-world strategies for fostering an equitable workplace.
April 2025
Talent retention through inclusive leadership for MB100
Workshop

Ishani shared her journey from an applied mathematician to founding Serein. She spoke about balancing motherhood and career growth, prioritising effectively, and maintaining a sustainable work-life balance. Through personal insights, she highlighted the challenges women face and strategies to navigate them, inspiring attendees to redefine success on their own terms.
March 2025
Accelerating Women in APAC with Computacentre
Learning Session

DEI isn’t fading—it’s evolving. While some regions pull back, Asia takes a pragmatic approach, seeing inclusion as a business necessity. Without ideological baggage, companies integrate DEI for real impact—driving talent, innovation, and market relevance. Dr. Ishani Roy explores this shift and its impact on the future of work in her latest Nikkei Asia article.
January 2025
Nikkei Asia
Article

What does it take to scale a business globally? In a recent peer learning session, 2023 Fellow Ishani Roy shared key lessons with other fellows on scaling globally — from breaking into new markets to tackling financial challenges.
January 2025
Cartier
Peer Learning Session

“You may see a person suffering from domestic violence, or see telltale signs. You may want to rush to help her. But you should not be over-aggressive. It might be counter-productive. Your aim should be to provide an agency to the person, to empower her to seek justice and report the violation,” said Roy.
November 2024
The Telegraph
Article

Impact Week is the leading conference for impact investors in Europe and beyond. This year’s conference will gather 1000 attendees, and 80% of them will be capital providers who are passionate about enhancing our social potential and environmental capacity.
At Impact Week, Ishani will showcase the 8 years of change that Serein has spearheaded in anti-harassment, equity and belonging across the world. She will speak about our innovative ways of working and connecting with human experiences across cultures, nationalities and backgrounds.
November 2024
Impact Week
Bilbao, Spain

Dr. Ishani Roy was a panelist at The DO School event in Munich, an annual gathering that convenes leaders from diverse sectors for high-impact discussions. This year, the event welcomed five board members and CEOs, including Ishani, alongside 80-100 senior leaders from Allianz Group, one of the world’s largest insurers.
November 2024
Allianz + DO School
Munich, Germany

In this 30-minute episode, Dr. Ishani Roy shares her journey of fostering a more inclusive world through her work in DEI. She explores how science, empathy, relatability, and human experiences converge to transform workplace dynamics and relationships. Drawing from her personal story and the thousands of individuals Serein has worked with, Ishani illustrates how these narratives shape the vision of a future workplace where everyone can coexist and thrive.
November 2024
Cartier Impact people
Podcast

At the Meaningful Business conference in London, a series of thought-provoking questions sparked deep discussions on racial inclusion, safety in countries without harassment laws, and the challenges of impact entrepreneurship. The discussion delved into critical issues such as how to convince skeptics of the importance of racial inclusion and the toughest decisions founders face when navigating these complex challenges.
October 2024
Meaningful Business Summit
London, UK

Serein recently conducted a gamified workshop on unconscious bias with the Cartier Women's Initiative team at their headquarters in Paris. Led by Dr. Ishani Roy,the interactive session took the form of a murder mystery with a unique twist. Participants embraced their inner detectives, piecing together clues to solve the mystery while engaging in meaningful discussions about unconscious bias. The workshop provided an innovative approach to understanding how biases can influence decision-making, whether in the workplace or during an investigation.
September 2024
CWI
Paris, France

The podcast episode featured Dr. Ishani Roy as part of the Contextualize series by the Centre for Digital Learning at FLAME University. In the conversation, Ishani discussed Serein's innovative approach to delivering training and awareness programs for client organizations, emphasizing formats such as online, hybrid, and offline sessions.
She shared insights into the use of digital tools like, gamified modules, and simulations to facilitate impactful learning experiences. The discussion also explored the effectiveness of different formats for teaching skills, highlighting Serein's science-driven approach to designing tools that align with specific learning goals.
September 2024
Flame University
Podcast

Dr. Ishani Roy recently delivered a compelling guest lecture at MICA | The School of Ideas, Ahmedabad, challenging the longstanding myth of rigid gender roles in prehistoric societies. By debunking various misconceptions around gender, she shed light on how such misconceptions have fueled biases that persist in our workplaces and society today.
July 2024
MICA
Lecture

The "Being BOLD with Inclusion" event in Mumbai brought together visionaries, academicians, and advocates to confront deep-seated social issues and foster meaningful dialogue on inclusion. Featuring an exceptional lineup of speakers, including Justice Ferdino Rebello, Parmesh Shahani, Mariah Levin, and ONIR, the event tackled topics like caste, religion, queer love, privilege, and allyship with courage and sincerity.
The discussions that followed ranged from access and representation to overlooked areas of exclusion—were both enlightening and impactful. This first event in Mumbai celebrated hope and collaboration, reinforcing Serein’s mission to drive transformative inclusion through bold actions and conversations.
July 2024
Serein Conference
Mumbai, India

The Bengaluru edition of the "Being BOLD with Inclusion" panel discussion brought together industry leaders, entrepreneurs, social impact investors, HR experts, and CEOs from around the globe to explore the evolving dynamics of inclusion and equity. Featuring renowned panelists, the event delved into the meaning of boldness in inclusion, emphasizing diverse identities and challenging boundaries.
The interactive session provided attendees with actionable insights on embedding inclusion into organizational culture, fostering psychological safety, and rooting out tokenism. Discussions highlighted leadership’s role in driving inclusive cultural dynamics, systemic integration of DEI for sustainable impact, and the importance of addressing biases through conscious, consistent actions.
July 2024
Serein Conference
Bangalore, India

The Marmalade Festival at the Skoll World Forum brought together global changemakers to explore innovative approaches to social and environmental impact. The festival provided a dynamic platform for entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders to exchange ideas and strategies, driving collaborative efforts to create equitable and inclusive ecosystems for success.
The session featured interactive discussions on pressing topics, including leadership, inclusion, and workplace dynamics, and delved into the critical role of psychological safety in fostering diverse and thriving workforces. Attendees engaged in activities and conversations about balancing empathetic leadership with achieving business objectives and maximizing impact. Participants explored how equity and inclusion can become foundational pillars in organizations and investment portfolios, emphasizing their importance in building sustainable ventures.
April 2024
Skoll World Forum
Oxford, UK

The ChangeNOW 2024 conference brought together 35,000 participants, including entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and change leaders, to present tangible solutions for global societal and business challenges. Held at the Grand Palais Éphémère in Paris, the event showcased groundbreaking ideas and initiatives aimed at driving impactful action for the planet.
Serein's interactive games and experiential approach were spotlighted and appreciated by an international audience, including impact investors and entrepreneurs from over 120 countries. A highlight was the workshop on “Fostering Inclusive Leadership,” which explored strategies for cultivating compassionate, effective leadership. With its diverse representation and innovative contributions, the conference served as a significant platform for fostering collaboration and accelerating sustainable solutions worldwide.
April 2024
ChangeNOW Conference
Paris, France
Previous apperances

November 2023
Serein at SOCAP Global 2023
Ishani Roy presented Serein's work in the leading social conference with more than 2000 social entrepreneurs and impact investors in place

November 2023
Employee well-being at risk
The conversation around mental health in the workplace gained momentum especially during and post-Covid-19, reaffirms the mental health expert Ishani Roy who is the founder of Serein. “In our experience as the workplace shrunk to being restricted at home, being away from social interactions coupled with loss and grief took a toll on most people.”

October 2023
Meaningful Business 100
This award celebrates leaders combining profit and purpose to help achieve the United Nations Global Goals.

October 2023
EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women: 2023
Ishani Roy was selected to be part of the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ EMEIA Class of 2023.

September 2023
Mind your language about him/her
Companies are becoming more aware of inclusive language, and the Supreme Court’s handbook on gender-just terms could accelerate the process
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May 2023
Cartier Women's Initiative: 2023 Fellow
Serein drives better business outcomes through diversity by providing companies with prevention strategies and policies to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

March 2023
Bollywood's gender revolution: Women are rewriting the rule
Media affects societal behaviors, and in a film-crazy, star-obsessed country like India, people will mimic the stars they look up to.

Feb 2023
Hiring & Firing Bias: Indian Women Have It Worse Than Men During Tech Layoffs
Women occupy just 20 percent of workforce in tech companies in India – and most of them are in non-engineering job profiles. So, when you say equal number of men and women have lost jobs, more women tend to be more impacted.

April 2022
Using Data to circumvent biases
Ishani spoke about how unconscious biases may affect inclusion and how data and research can be used to measure and monitor exclusion to circumvent biases
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March 2021
Making workplaces safer for women: Why companies can do better
One of the reasons was that it became very difficult for women to undertake PoSH-related interviews and formalities in the presence of other family members at home.
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May 2017
Serein helps workplaces address sexual harassment and gender issues
In our extensive campaign it has been very encouraging to see many company leaders and founders going beyond the mandates to meet often or conduct town halls to discuss culture
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July 2017
Ground realities of dealing with sexual harassment at workplace: the experts speak
We think physical is the only form, but sexist jokes are also sexual harassment – even on SMS, WhatsApp, or email messages